Men's Ice Hockey Falls to St. Thomas In Exhibition, 5-3

Milford, CT - Freshman Eric Delong (Oakville, MB) scored twice for the Pioneers but Sacred Heart fell to St. Thomas 5-3 in an exhibition contest Sunday evening at the Milford Ice Pavilion. Corey Laurysen (Ottawa, ON) finished with two assists, each coming in the first period. Sacred Heart finished 1-8 on the power play while the Tommies converted twice on four chances.

St. Thomas struck first just eight minutes into the game on a marker from Andrew Estey with assists from Tyler Dietrich and Brad Gallant. The Pioneers would tie the game up four minutes later capitalizing on a four on three power play with a marker from Paul Ferraro (Pleasantville, NY). Sacred Heart took the lead with just 24 seconds remaining in the period on Delong's first goal. Laurysen fired a shot from the point and Delong scooped up the rebound and put it around the goalie to provide SHU with a 2-1 advantage at the first intermission.

Sacred Heart poured 21 shots on goal in the second period but could not find the back of the net. The Tommies operated with efficiency scoring three times on just six shots on net. Reich tied the game five minutes into the second stanza banging home a cross from Devan Praught. The Pioneers had back to back power plays starting at the 13:00 but could not take back the lead. With 5:30 left in the period Gallant put the Tommies on top after corralling a deflection off of a Pioneer defensemen and beating the keeper. Jason Cassidy scored St. Thomas' second power play goal of the game shortly later to put his team on top 4-2 after two periods.

Delong wasted no time cutting the Tommies lead in half just 46 seconds into the third frame. The freshman forward got the puck in the slot and fired a wrist shot into the top left corner of the net. The Tommies power play would finish the scoring midway through the final period as Alex Labonte notched his first goal.

The Pioneers outshot St. Thomas 41-23 while starting goaltender Olivier St. Onge (Wickham, QC) played just over 30 minutes and made 14 saves. Sacred Heart opens the regular season October 23 as they travel to Troy, NY to take on Rensselaer.